Ax provided with a swingable head adapted to be locked in different positions



March 12, 1940. BERGKVlsT ET AL 2,193,708

AX PROVIDED WITH A SWINGABLE HEAD ADAPTED TO BE LOCKED IN DIFFERENT POSITIONS Filed D80. '19, 1938 invcwk gs 5f Rfler Kw'si' K. H- miss,

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Patented Mar. 12, 1940 il -i 1T. 10 F ICE AX PROVIDED WITH A SWINGABLE HEAD ADAPTED TO BE nocxnnmmrrnnnm POSITIONS Ernst Rudolf Bergkvist and Karl Helmer Eriksson, Orsa, Sweden Application December 19, 1938, Serial No. 246,722

In Sweden February 21, 1938 2 Claims.

The present invention refers to such axes which formed in the manner shown in the drawing. In

are provided with a swingable head adapted to be locked in different positions.

According to the invention, the handle of the ax, or a portion thereof, is constituted by'a sheet-metal casing, which is formed in such a manner as to enclose the swung-in head of the ax completely or nearly completely. The ax may be secured both in a swung-in and in a swung-out position by means of a locking mechanism provided with a movable tongue orthe like cooperating with the head of the ax and normally closing that opening in the sheet-metal casing through which the head of the ax may be swung in and out.

In addition to the said tongue, the locking mechanism preferably consists of a lever swingably arranged within the casing and pivoted to the tongue, an adjusting device being pivotally connected with said lever.

The adjusting device may consist of a threaded pin connected to the lever and of a nut screwed thereon. The nut is guided in such a manner that an axial displacement of the same is pre- 25 vented.

The lever of the locking mechanism may be swingable either about the one end thereof or about a center. In the first case, the threaded pin is connected to the center andin the second case to the end of the lever. The tongue is in both cases connected to the other end of the lever.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing.

Fig. 1 shows a partly sectioned elevation of an ax constructed in accordance with the invention. That portion of the handle of the ax which is farthest off from the head of the ax is not shown, however. Fig. 2 shows the ax viewed from above. Fig. 3 shows the same as Fig. 1 but with certain parts arranged according to a modified construction. Fig. 4 shows a detail section on line 4-4 in Fig. 1.

The head I of the ax is connected to the end 45 of the handle 2 of the ax by means of a pin 3,

about which the head is swingable so as to permit of being adjusted either into a swung-out operative position or into a swung-in inoperative position. In the drawing, the swung-out position 50 is shown by full-drawn lines and the swung-in position by chain-dotted lines. In the swung-in position, the head of the ax is introduced practically completely into the handle of the ax, and to make this possible the handle of the ax is constituted by a sheet-metal casing, which is Gil (Cl. 306--2) I this way, the cutting edge of the ax will be completely protected, so that it cannot be damaged or cause damage, which obviously is of great importance.

When the head of the ax is swung-out it is secured in operative position by a locking mechanism consisting of a tongue 4 or the like, the one end of which cooperates with a recess 5 in the head of the ax, andthe other end of which is pivotally connected by means of a pin 6 to a lever 'Lwhich is arranged within the sheet-metal casing of the ax handle and is swingablc about a pin 8 secured in the casing. Arranged at the center of the lever I or in the proximity thereof is a pin 9, by means of which a threaded pin I0 is pivotally connected to the lever. Screwed onto the pin it is a nut II, which is guided in openings l2 in the sheet-metal casing of the ax handle so that it cannot be displaced in an axial direction.

By turning the nut H in one direction, the lever 1 may obviously be swung and the tongue 4 be displaced in such direction as to safely retain the head I of the ax in the swung-out position, in which the head is secured by the free end of the tongue 4 cooperating with the recess 5, as well as by an edge I3 of the sheet metal casing. Again, when the nut is returned in the other, direction, the tongue 4 will be retracted from the head of the ax, which is thus released so that, after the tongue 4 has been swung out into the position shown by chain-dotted lines, the head of the ax may be swung into the sheetmetal casing of the handle into the position shown by chain-dotted lines. When the head of the ax has been swung in as shown, the tongue 4 is swung back and the nut II is turned in such a direction that the free end of the tongue is introducedinto a recess M in the head of the ax, which is thus retained in its swung-in position. In the swung-in as well as in the swungout position of the head of the ax, the opening in the handle is closed by the tongue 4.

The modified construction shown in Fig. 3

, diiIers from that above described only in that the lever I is swingably arranged about a central pin I5, and in that the threaded pin I0 is pivotally connected to the end of the lever.

Preferably, the sheet metal casing is of an oval or substantially oval cross-sectional shape along the whole of its length, so that proper strength will be obtained. About the pin 3, the casing is preferably bulged in as shown in Fig. 4, whereby the casing is reinforced at this place.

We claim:

1. An ax comprising a handle consisting of a sheet-metal casing having an opening therein, a head rotatably mounted on said handle and adapted to be swung into the opening in said casing and a locking mechanism for securing the head in both the'swung-out and in the swung-in positions, said mechanism consisting of a tongue adapted to cooperate with the head to secure the same in both the swung-out and the swung-in positions and to cross the opening in the casing, a lever pivotally mounted in said casing and pivotally connected to said tongue, a pin pivotally said casing being recessed at the point where 10 the head is rotatably mounted on the handle.

ERNST RUDOLF BERGKVIST. KARL HELMER ERIKSSON. 

